PBI-Kenya accompanies march to Governor’s office to present petition against proposed nuclear power plant

Published by Brent Patterson on October 11, 2024October 11, 2024

PBI-Kenya has posted:

“PBI Kenya is accompanying land and environmental activists from Kilifi County today as they march to the Governor’s office to present a petition. The activists are protesting the selection of Uyombo Village as the preferred site for a Nuclear Power Plant-

citing the area’s UNESCO biosphere and critical environmental sites, including Arabuko Sokoke, Watamu Marine Park, and Mida Creek Mangrove Forest. They argue that this decision poses serious economic, environmental, and moral risks for the region.

The petition calls for urgent intervention from the President of Kenya through the Governor of Kilifi.”

Late last month, AGCNewsNet reported: “Plans to construct Kenya’s first nuclear power plant in the coastal town of Kilifi have triggered resistance from local communities and environmental activists. The proposed site, located in a conservation area, has raised alarm, particularly in the small fishing village of Uyombo.”

The article adds: “The Nuclear Power and Energy Agency (Nupea) … aims to start construction on Kenya’s nuclear plant between 2027 and 2029, with operations beginning by 2034.”

Russia and the United States

Earlier this month, The Independent reported: “Kenya intends to intensify cooperation with Russia in the fields of nuclear and renewable energy, Ambassador of Kenya to Russia, Peter Muthuku, told reporters.”

News Az adds: “Kenya’s collaboration in nuclear energy is not limited to Russia. The country is also strengthening ties with the United States in this field. …This growing collaboration between Kenya and the US was further emphasized during Kenyan President William Ruto’s State visit to the US, where clean energy and resilience, including nuclear energy, were major topics of discussion between President Ruto and US President Joe Biden.”

False solution

Friends of the Earth has commented: “As the climate crisis intensifies, science and justice demand real, renewable solutions that will protect our planet and communities — not false climate solutions that sacrifice frontline communities and ignore mistakes of the past. Climate solutions should be clean and just. We cannot continue to rely on false solutions like nuclear, biomass, petrochemicals, and net zero.”

Greenpeace has also highlighted: “The multiple stages of the nuclear fuel cycle produce large volumes of radioactive waste. No government has yet resolved how to safely manage this waste.”

Nuclear power at COP29

And yet the Foreign Minister of Azerbaijan, the country hosting the upcoming United Nations COP29 climate conference (November 11 to 22), says: “The inclusion of facilitated and affordable nuclear technologies in the resource deliberations of the COP process is essential.”

Earlier this year, the foreign minister commented: “The inclusion of nuclear energy in the global stocktake at COP28, as a means for reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, was indeed a historic milestone. …We, as the host country for COP29, are committed to spearheading efforts to produce tangible outcomes at this milestone event to be held in Baku later this year.”

We continue to follow this.

Further reading:

– PBI-Kenya amplifies concerns about a proposed nuclear power plant in the coastal village of Uyombo, Kilifi (July 3, 2024)

– PBI-Kenya meets with survivors of National Police Service violence at protest against proposed nuclear power plant in Uyombo (July 4, 2024)

– PBI-Kenya expresses solidarity with Uyombo village brutalized by police for opposing a nuclear power plant (July 10, 2024)